[TechAssist] Re: where did u guys learn?
- From: Andrew Rose <badandy2@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: techassist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 10 May 2003 12:41:23 -0700
I also remember uncle sam paying me $94 a month
Andrew Action TV
----- Original Message -----
From: "Wayne Vanaman" <Wayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <techassist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, May 10, 2003 4:56 AM
Subject: [TechAssist] Re: where did u guys learn?
>
> Yor story brunged a tear to my eye.
>
> Wayne Vanaman
> Omega Electronics
> 6904 W Fairfield Dr
> Pensacola, Fl. 32506-3310
>
> Wayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> WWW.PensacolaTVRepair.Com
>
> 850-456-5995 voice
> 850-458-6369 fax
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Electric Medic" <info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <techassist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Saturday, May 10, 2003 3:36 AM
> Subject: [TechAssist] Re: where did u guys learn?
>
>
> >
> > WE HAD 14 television sets in our house during the '60s, none of which
> worked
> > properly. My dad was the TV repairman!
> > There were two sets in the living room-one provided the sound, while the
> > other flashed a barely visible picture. Mom and I tried in vain to find
> the
> > faulty tube or loose screw that made the picture too dim to watch.
> >
> > Dad could have done it. His customers said he was a genius when it came
to
> > fixing their broken TV sets.
> >
> > Trouble was, Dad was so busy fixing TVs at night and working his factory
> job
> > during the day, he had no time to repair our set.
> >
> > Mom was the one who persuaded Dad to get into TV repair. Years before
they
> > were married, Mom attended the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago
> in
> > 1933 and the New York World's Fair in 1939, where she saw demonstrations
> of
> > television.
> >
> > My parents bought their first set when they were married in 1949. Mom
then
> > urged Dad to go to night school and learn how to fix TVs.
> >
> > Dad enrolled in the television repair class at a technical school. When
he
> > finished the class, he bought a repair kit that he carried in a big
case.
> >
> > Word soon got out in our Augusta Georgia South Side neighborhood that
Dad
> > was a technical whiz. He could figure out the problems people were
having
> > with this magnificent, but complicated, piece of equipment they could no
> > longer live without.
> >
> > Referrals from satisfied customers kept our phone ringing at all hours.
> Even
> > at midnight, we would get calls asking for Dad's help. At 4 years old, I
> was
> > already taking Dad's phone messages. "My TV went out during The
> > Millionaire!" one panicked customer cried.
> >
> > Lots of Tubes to Test
> >
> > In those days, most of the problems with TV sets were in the tubes-and
> those
> > huge sets had a lot of them. Some used as many as 25, and all were
> different
> > sizes.
> >
> > I remember going with Dad to a customer's house. He'd unscrew the back
of
> > the set, brush off the dust inside, then remove any tubes that looked
> dark.
> > That meant they were burned out.
> >
> > If he didn't't have a replacement tube in his kit, Dad would go to
> > Walgreen's, which had tubes and a tube-testing machine. Dad taught me to
> use
> > the tester. He showed me how the prongs on a tube would correspond to
the
> > holes in the testing machine. I'd plug in the tube, then turn the knob
to
> > "On". A dial would tell if the tube was "Good", "Weak" or "Poor". Dad
> would
> > then buy the tubes he needed.
> >
> > Sometimes the tubes were all good, but the picture kept rolling. If the
> > problem was the horizontal or vertical hold, it meant there was a loose
> > screw somewhere.
> >
> > Once their sets were fixed, smiles spread across the customer's faces.
> Dad's
> > fee? In 1959 it was about $2, plus whatever tubes he had to replace.
> >
> > Old Sets Were Handy Loaners
> >
> > When customers bought new TVs, they often gave Dad their old sets. He
> > welcomed them because he could use the good tubes to repair other sets.
> Dad
> > also used the sets as loaners if he had to take a customer's set home
for
> > repair.
> >
> > That's how we ended up with 14 sets, none of which worked properly.
That's
> > also how Mom and I, after trying to fix the sets, knew that Dad really
was
> a
> > genius.
> >
> > When solid-state television sets appeared in the '60s, Dad's business
> > plummeted. The new sets were too advanced, too technical for him, Dad
> said.
> >
> > Before long, the late-night repair calls stopped, Walgreen's removed its
> > tube-testing machine, and Dad's repair kit was tucked away in a closet.
> >
> > Just like the iceman, the doctor who made house calls, and the man who
> came
> > by to sharpen knives, the TV home repairman's era came to an end.
> >
> > Dad continued to work at his factory job and he worked weekends at an
> > old-fashioned soda fountain. I helped him there, too.
> >
> > But he never did fix any of those 14 TV sets we had at home
> >
> > Perry Bower, (EHEER) Electronic Home Entertainment Equipment Repairer
> > Electric Medic
> > "It's Cheaper to Keep Her"
> > http://www.electricmedic.com
> > Free Electronic Screensaver:
> >
>
http://www.eyetide.com/download/?s=O3OfmSLHXygGHCv1W6Gz3Bgjtq3DNNMNdcKsYSVGC
> > 3850 Washington Road Suite 5b
> > Augusta, Georgia 30907
> > Phone: 706-8MEDIC4 (863-3424)
> > Phone: 706-863-3474
> > Fax: 706-863-2316
> > mailto:info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: inventdv [mailto:inventdv@xxxxxxxxx]
> > Sent: Saturday, May 10, 2003 3:51 AM
> > To: techassist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Subject: [TechAssist] where did u guys learn?
> >
> >
> > im intrested in where some of u guys learnt repair
> > tell me
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
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